Mere months ago, Boulder Valley School District officials questioned whether there would be enough interest within the district to warrant a high school flag football team. The first few weeks of informal summer practices for the fledgling Monarch program tell a different story.

Since their inception June 16, the Coyotes have enjoyed the presence of anywhere between 35 and 50 girls at their twice-a-week training, as the ladies range in age from freshmen to seniors. On Thursday, those in attendance learned routes at four different stations.

It’s been everything Monarch rising senior Avery Kennedy had hoped for when she and a small group of girls first lobbied to the district in the spring. She personally worked on petitions and built lists of interested players from various schools, and said she’s enjoyed studying her route trees to improve her football IQ.

“I wanted to have a team because I really like that it’s a newish sport and that it’s for girls,” she said. “Usually, guys are the only people that can play football, so I like that it’s a chance for girls to have another sport. And I’m not playing club soccer, which I usually play.”

The district hired Colin Hart to coach the team in June, and the former Monarch football captain (2012) has been eager to helm a new program. He said a group of parents approached him with the job during lacrosse playoffs in the spring.

He’s coached both football and lacrosse at Monarch and Broomfield, and teaches social studies at Crossroads Alternative Middle School in Northglenn.

He and his small coaching staff have asked the girls to “market” the team through Instagram.

“They want to build it, which is good. It makes it easy for me, because then I don’t have to do that. And then parents can help out, and it just becomes a self-sustaining machine,” Hart said. “It’s one thing to say, ‘Hey, I’m interested,’ but it’s another thing to actually participate. We have people participating, which is what I love, right? A lot of these summer camp type deals, they’re all voluntary. It’s not like we’re demanding you to come out. We’re just looking to kind of gauge and see the interest, and the interest is there, obviously.”

Centaurus rising senior Kate Ernst played her own role in helping the district acquire a team by encouraging her friends to join the email list of all interested potential players. The track athlete discovered the news of the team’s approval on a day when she missed her spring practice and, as she put it, “I literally jumped out of my chair because I was so excited.”

She’s learned football from her father and has attended nearly every optional practice to date. She’s already seen her confidence and skills grow exponentially.

“We’re going to have a really solid team, hopefully, out here. Everyone is really excited to just try everything and kind of go at it. We’re all here to learn. It’s OK to drop a ball or not catch a pass,” Ernst said. “When I heard there was a flag football team, I really wanted to come out here with my friends and get faster, get stronger, and just have so much fun with a bunch of new people, meeting new people from different schools and stuff. It’s showing other girls younger than me, older than me that this is a sport we can play.”